Qualitative Evaluation of YouTube Videos on Dental Fear, Anxiety and Phobia

The aim of this study was to review the health information of dental fear-, dental anxiety-, and dental phobia-related videos on YouTube. The 100 most widely viewed videos for the keywords “dental fear”, “dental anxiety”, and “dental phobia” were chosen for evaluation. Out of the 300 videos, 145 videos met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. It was found that most of them were produced by the professions, with a dentist delivering the key messages or with patients giving testimonials. Many etiological factors and symptoms were described. Many pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions were recommended to the audience, such as sedation and distraction, respectively. However, there was a lack of information on the definition or diagnostic criteria of dental fear, dental anxiety, and dental phobia. Videos with high views had a higher ratio of misleading information. Videos with a dentist being the informant had a similar ratio of misleading information compared to other videos. Without adequate information on how to diagnose, it would be very difficult for the audience to determine if the video content was relevant or useful. The dental profession can work together with psychologists or psychiatrists to produce authoritative videos with accurate content.